RetroGameForge, the successor to NESMaker, blasts past its Kickstarter goal in a single day

Making your own NES or SNES game without touching assembly code was already NESMaker's promise. Its creator, Joe Granato, is taking it further with RetroGameForge, a new suite of tools announced in early August 2026 and pitched as NESMaker's direct successor, aiming to make homebrew development "far more intuitive" while being "significantly more capable."

A full graphics editor, visual scripting, and a proper music editor

RetroGameForge is set to include a built-in pixel art and animation editor, reworked object and screen management to cut down on frustration, and a GUI-driven script editor instead of raw code. On the audio side, the tool promises a genuine music editor combining classic trackers with a DAW-style timeline for anyone used to Pro Tools or Logic. It will run on Windows, Mac and Linux, with an NES module shipping at launch in November 2026, followed by an SNES module.

Launched this week, the RetroGameForge Kickstarter blew past its initial $6,502 goal to top $72,000 in barely 24 hours, with 27 days left to go as of this writing. Studio The New 8-Bit Heroes has already posted demo videos of the various modules, including this one covering the animation tool.

Source: Time Extension